Tastes are obviously different. The German DJ Don Fermano, who is part of Sonic Warriors United and is living in Australia for several years now, talks a little bit about his life and the music scene there.What brought you to Australia?Good question.Actually the plan was to go
from Germany to South America/Colombia and live there. But as it happens in
life from time to time something came up and South America was no longer an
option for me. At that time, I already quit my job and gave notice to move out
of my flat. So I thought I can go somewhere else, and I decided to go to
Australia because I always wanted to go there.

My sister was already
living there for a while and therefore I applied for a work and travel visa for
one year and went to Perth. After some months I realized that I would like to
stay longer. It’s six years ago and I am still here and happy with it.

How
did you get into music?

Music has always been an
important part of my life. When I was a teenager I was Punk. At the age of 16 I
went to my first illegal techno party in the Harz Mountains. From this day on I
was hooked and electronic music was my favorite. I am listening to many
different music styles and like all kinds of music as long as the artist
produced it with the heart. Electronic music is and will be my favorite music.

How important is music in
your life?

I cannot live without
music. This may sound stupid but it’s true.

Music has an incredible
power. Certain tracks can cause a certain mood or transport you to another place.
When I feel bad music can put a smile on my face within five minutes. I spend
most of my free time listening to music and making music, either DJing or jam
with the machines.

How would you describe your music style?

We call it Techno J

I am not a big fan of drawers. When I started DJing
there were only Techno and House in principle. Today there are billions of
sub-genres which are trying to distance themselves from each other. I do not
want to participate in this. One of the things I really liked about electronic
music from the beginning was this feeling that anything is possible, that you
combine together whatever you want. In the past I played much faster and harder
music. Today I play rather slow and more melodic stuff (usually not faster than
128 bpm) than in the past. I would say I play Techno combined with influences
from other music styles.

Uwe Schmidt – no matter if
as Atom, Atom Heart, Lassigue Bendthaus or one of his innumerable other project
names – absolutely brilliant artist

Der Dritte Raum – produced
a lot of classical tracks which still work today

Cari Lekebusch – Old School
Hero, which is still doing uncompromising Techno as in the 90s

Dapayk – one of my favorite
Techno producers

Surgeon – Old School Techno
Hero

Cristian Vogel – Old
School Hero with own sound and sometimes sick but extremely great tracks

Neil Landstrumm - Old
School Hero with own sound and sometimes sick but extremely great tracks

Christian Morgenstern – one of the best German Techno
producers – unfortunately died much too soon

When did you start DJing?

That was shortly after my first Techno Party, around
1996/1997 (damn, such a long time ago, I almost feel old when I write this).

At the beginning I was playing records at my friend’s
place because I did not have my own equipment. As soon as I had saved enough
money, I bought my first mixer and two record players.

How
many tracks have you already released and from where do you get your ideas for new
tracks?

Until
now I did not officially released a track. At the moment I am planning
everything for my releases on SWU and a friend’s label here in Australia,
called Psydonia.

Usually
I get my ideas when I am jamming with my machines, either alone or with friends.
When I create a sequence during the jamming and I like it or which is kind of
special, I record it and develop a track around it.

Are
there any gigs as DJ planned in the near future?

Most of the gigs I am playing at are semi-legal or
illegal and take place in the outback (as we call the forest here. Therefore, I
cannot talk about new gigs so open here in the internet.

Tell me something about the Australian music
scene. What is the difference to the music scene in Europe or Germany?

Psy-Trance is very popular here, we have a lot of parties and festivals with this kind of music. We even have our own Australian Psy-Trance sound, and labels like Zenon Records had a great impact on this. In recent years, the scene became very well-known around the globe.

There is a huge difference between the Australian and
German music scene. In the big cities (Sydney, Melbourne and Perth) you can
listen to a lot of acts who are playing in Germany nowadays.

In general, the music taste here is a little bit
different because Australia has historically been influenced by UK. All the
music which is popular in England is popular here too. There are also a lot of
artists from the UK which play sold-out shows here but have in Germany only a
small fan base.

Classic straight Techno which is played in Germany is
really hard to find here. Most of the clubs are fancier and House is played
over here. Clubs, in which only Techno is played e.g. Berghain hardly exist
here.

The laws in terms of alcohol, curfews etc. are very
strict here. There is almost no club which opens longer than 5 am in the
morning. After hour clubs / parties do not exist at all, only when you do it at
someone’s place in private. This is one of the reasons why most parties I go to
or where I play are illegal and take place in the outback.

Psy-Trance is huge here; a lot of really good parties
and festivals with this kind of music are organized here. Even there is a
private Australian Psy-Trance sound which labels like Zenon Records created. In
recent years, this sound has become very famous in this scene worldwide.

My
main project at the moment is my hardware-only live-act. I spend most of my time
on this. I hope that I can play with my machines one hour live at the end of
this year. Furthermore, I am working on a several tracks for my first release,
which hopefully will be released end of the year as well.

Besides
this I regularly organize parties with friends in the outback.

What
is important to you in life?

Music,
beer, food and sex ;)

Joking
apart, the classic things like career, children, family, big house and nice car
do not interest me that much.

As
I said, music plays a big role in my life.

I
am simply trying to make the best of every day and enjoy it as much as I can.
You should not wait for tomorrow or better times; you should do as much as
possible now. We all have only one life and this can be over very quickly. I
don’t want to lie on my deathbed and think about all the things I wanted to do
but never did.

About Us

We are a collective of artists and DJs that provide a unique style of underground Techno, Electro, EBM, Rhythmic Industrial, Old School and New School to a new generation of sonic seekers. We fight against narrow thinking, intolerance and ignorance.